Bump

Unplanned, Unwired & Ultimately good fun.

With last weekends adrenaline fuelled frolics still strong in my memory, I had planned to keep this weekend low-key. To an extent it was, but not to quite the levels I'd hoped.

Friday night saw me out for a few beers and games of pool with some guys from work, before heading to Bondi's Beach Road Hotel for a few more beers and catch up chats with my friends, old and new.

After getting over Friday with a Thai lunch in the Junction, and some token shopping, it was time to get back onto the merry go round of life with a beer with good friends in the company of a band. This time it was The Butterfly Effect, a Brisbane band I saw before at last years Homebake festival. The venue was pretty cool - albeir a uni bar, the Roundhouse allowed for an awesomely in your face volume. See a clip I took of the band performing my favourite of their tracks 'Gone' complete with lead-singer hissy fit when his mic packs up here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0yCiR1I8YY

I finally got a decent sleep after a couple of weeks of many short short ones, and slowly got motivated to getting myself out into the world. This weeks activity of choice being a trip to the Aroma festival - Coffee, Chocolate & Spices. It was clear I wouldn't last long at this one, for one, I've never finished a cup of coffee in my life, in fact, I've only tried the stuff about 4 times in various guises. We bought some fudge which sicked me out straight away, it didn't help that I'd already eaten some liquorice and a packet of Crispy M&Ms not long before. Since all coffees were just a dollar, I figured I should try the stuff again.

A flat white was to be my next dabble with the dark drink. I decided to avoid sugar, but I still sprinkled some choc dust across it, there's something safe about chocolate. My verdict was "well it still has that disgusting coffee taste lingering after each mouthfull, but it ain't bad". I finished it. Well I got as far as the cold horrible bitter bit near the bottom.

So how could I beat that? Well, I couldn't. Instead, we convened outside one of the better Sydney pubs - "The Australian" and ate the chunkiest topped pizzas and guzzled a full set of taps worth of pinted variety beers. All was left to do of a lazy Sunday arvo, was to head home. But we accidentally managed to fall into one of Sydney's hottest new bars; The Argyle. A huge place that you just have to see to believe was so impressive to behold upon arrival... the only thing was a distinct lack of the opposite sex.

Aaron pointed this out to me, and eventually my senses realised it. Yup. Gay Night.We managed to snag a corner away from the err... action and of course still had a good fun weekend sundown.

PS. Happy 2nd birthday to http://www.starsofcctv.blogspot.com/

Luke Fonfara

Away From Here

Thredbo,

Imagine that feeling you may have had once or twice only in life, that feels a bit like how, I figure, a vice clamping across your temples might start to feel; as a direct result of work related stress. I think I got to this stage with an unpleasent combination of long hours, cold weather, stressful factors at work and a pending cold, all creeping into my week together. It should've been for the best intentions; a good week whereby I had my sights firmly set on a great weekend. Unfortunately not.

Friday, the fight continued right through the day with my schedule getting stacked back toward clocking off time, just convenietly adding to the grey hair inducing stuff. I finally shook my last clients hand of the day, jumped in an elevator and decended down seventeen floors of green glassed skyscraper (as seen in the Matrix). Out on the street again, the urgence in my step was being driven by a new energy. A force aquired from the thought of where my body would be in 15hours time. The thought of what I would be doing and what I wouldn't be doing, gave my mind some solace.

An hour later I was home, and my good friend Rog was there with a Land Cruiser packed with his ski gear. All was left, was to add my snowboard gear and me... plus some long hours driving, petrol and the worst nights kip in a hostel of all my days. To speed past that, I found myself shivering whilst walking toward the same carpark I had parked in back at Easter in the centre of Canberra. Sleep depravated and still with lingering thoughts from the working week, some people may have questionned what I was doing when a choice to spend the whole weekend in bed could have been so easy to take.

As we made early tracks toward lake Jindabyne, it all became clear. Pastel shades painted a picture around us as the sun rose, almost a solid state rainbow with blues, pinks, oranges, yellows and greens eminating from the horizon in front of us. As we arrived in the Kosciusko state park, I was forced to hit the brakes to let a family of Kangeroos hop on across the front of our car (100% pure Australia!). This put a smile on our faces, a smile which would be with me for the whole weekend ahead in Thredbo.

With my T1's laced up, my Cartels latched and in perfect position, my little WorldWideWeapon gleaming, freshly waxed in the sunlight, it was time to slide down a slippery slope. I promised myself I'd go easy on my first run... I broke that promise as soon as I realised my legs had enough in them to warrant not having to go easy. A little shaky, never the less, I was back in a personal paradise. Cold wind on my face felt just as good as any beachy warm breeze today.

I've never needed such a fix of snowboarding as this weekend just gone by, and to think I have but 3 weeks to wait until the next excursion - well, I'm stoked.

Even though weekends in Australian resorts tend to get a name for themselves as being busy, I'd be the first to admit that things were really not too bad. The longest we ever waited for a lift was a couple of minutes, and once we'd found some enjoyable runs with good conditions, it was all the easier since T-bars tend to fend off large crowds by their very nature.

At the end of day 1, I think both Rog and I felt pretty overwhelmed, but still managed a few beers and games of pool before saying g'night to the starry night in typical fashion.

Sunday seemed to have sent some of the crowds home, so slightly less busy, the day involved me trying to get back to as close as I could to my personal best form of March 2005. I could certainly go fast, and I was grabbing mute and tails in no time. I managed some baby 360's and even got to riding some switch out of a couple of little 1's.

Aside from the muscular aches around my ribs, and dare I try to forget, my left groin I'm in great shape after the impromptu weekend of snow fun...

Again? Bring it on.

Suspicious Eyes

Recap

Some weeks ago, the gang went to a contemporary Italian restaurant, a big group of us y'know, and we dined in honour of our good friend Emily. 25years young. I had the duck a l'oranage which was tasty, however not exactly filling, and those who know me well will know I don't like miserly portions of food. Regardless we managed to squeeze in dessert before squeezing into a tiny little club in the Cross... it goes without saying that we partied until others had chosen to give up.

Some more rock climbing, plenty more gym sessions and I've also started training for a "fun"run which takes place in August. It's 14kms and travels from inner city out to the beach at Bondi... which gives its name "City 2 Surf". So as well as a 3km round trips to and from the gym, I've managed a 8km run locally, and last weekend I managed to crack double figures by running the coastal track from Coogee to Tamarama (one stop before Bondi). I'm feeling pretty good in the old legs, so hope to finish the final run well within the qualifying time that allows you to run in the faster group next year. Truth is; I'll be happy to make the whole thing without having to stop for a breather. I'll put up a link for sponsorship in the coming weeks so if you feel like donating to a worthy cause (my local towns kids hospital), They and I would be most grateful.

Last weekend was a celebration of nothing imparticular, other than the end of a week at work and of course the 7th day of the 7th month in the, errr 8th year of this millenium. Over two nights I made the weekend count, and last Saturday I went for a bit of quiet time. So I managed to take in the Max Dupain photographic exhibition at the NSW Library; an architectural photographer by trade, there was some real cool stuff. Much of his subject matter is relatively familiar to me as he was based in NSW for most of his life, highly recommended if you're in the area.

After that I figured I'd go see the home of the 5,000 sailors that had invaded Sydney over the weekend. The US Military's Kitty Hawk - on it's final visit to this part of the world before it floats back to the US to be replaced by the Nuclear Powered George Washington. I've never seen such a huge vessel afloat in honesty, I'd estimate something like 30 aircraft aboard it alongside the runway. Through my cameras viewfinder, I could see armed crew members checking out the surroundings in Wooloomooloo. It's kinda weird when something like that, so colossal in size, comes to visit you - when usually it'd be us that make the pilgrimage to go visit such an extraordinary engineering feat.

The house has become a little emptier with Jarrad off on world travels. He's currently in Ireland before hitting up London and Hong Kong. With Aaron off to Melbourne this weekend, I was gonna have to organise something good to keep entertained...

What I've Done

It's pretty normal for music to set the tone for certain events, obviously though, this is usually pre-planned. So it always makes me smirk whenever my iPod, in pure randomised shuffle mode, can all so often get that mood spot on.



I get off a busy bus of commuters and onto another bus serving the outter reaches of the city, for a melodic changeover to complement the sharply dressed corporate workers to the scruffy (I'm not even sure if they're employed or not) glum faces of outter suburbia.


On another day, I make fast tracks down Elizabeth Street with barely a soul passing me by, to the cruising beats of an aged American Rock band - Freedom - or as free as I can be between 9am and 5pm these days. I hit a train station in rush hour to get some angsty heavy rock harrowing through my drums. Why did that girl just decide to stand still only a footstep in front of me without so much as a glance behind her?? 3 seconds later it matters not. I'm bowling back up toward the freshair blowing in from the harbour.


Some days even the silence makes me laugh, as I listen to a favourite tune of the moment, probably downloaded only a night or two previous, to arrive at a client that regularly pulls at my patience strings, usually without realising it... and there I am, willing those 2hours of my life to pass me by as quickly as possible so I can escape, back between my Sennheiser membranes powered by an electronic apple amplifying the power, feeling and effect of thousands of songs...